Transition Towns seeks short films

Second annual film festival set for October

GREENFIELD — Transition Towns will roll out the red carpet for its second annual film festival in a few months.

But, before it holds its Oct. 25 festival at Greenfield Community College, it need films.

That’s where you come in.

The 2013 Pioneer Valley Transition Towns Film Festival seeks submissions of seven-minute films on a variety of topics. Only the top 10 films will be shown at the festival, but all qualifying submissions will air on local access cablevision stations.

Organizers ask that filmmakers focus on sustainability, in areas such as food and farming, health and medicine, education, the economy, transportation, energy, housing, and environmental activism.

They also ask that you show how your subject can help build resilient or sustainable communities by 2030.

Films must be shot in the Pioneer Valley, and subject matter must be directly related to the region.

Filmmakers can either compete for prizes or enter their work in the non-competitive category.

Last year, “Grow Food Everywhere” won first place.

The film was about programs run by Seeds of Solidarity Farm in Orange. Samantha Lyon, a graduate of Smith College, interviewed farm owners Deb Habib and Ricky Baruc, as well as the children they’ve taught and members of the community they reach.

Those youth, in the Seeds of Leadership program, go on to teach other, younger children, help set up community gardens at elementary schools, and grow their own vegetables to distribute to low-income families and seniors.

The inaugural festival received 18 short film entries, on subjects like public fruit trees, bee-friendly gardens, a community labor bartering system, and other innovative ideas and projects.